ISSUE: Water Policy Report

2023 TRI Analysis Shows Facilities Treated More PFAS Waste, Cut Releases

Facilities managed more PFAS waste in 2023 compared to previous years, according to EPA’s new analysis of 2023 data reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), but more of that waste was treated than before, resulting in a reduction in releases through air, water, land and other media compared to 2022. But the data for 2024 is expected to show an increase in volumes of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) waste as 2023 was the last reporting year when facilities...

D.C. Circuit allows environmentalists to intervene in LCRI suit

The D.C. Circuit has approved three environmental groups’ motion to intervene in water utilities’ lawsuit against the Biden-era Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), a move that will allow the groups to provide a more full-throated defense of the measure shortly after the Trump EPA said it would defend the rule. In an Aug 20 order , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allowed Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Newburgh Clean Water Project and Sierra...

EPA Draws Suit Over Failure To Promulgate Final Florida Water Criteria

Environmentalists are suing EPA over its failure to finalize revised water quality criteria for protecting human health in Florida, charging that Administrator Lee Zeldin faces a nondiscretionary duty to issue such criteria and continues to unlawfully withhold their promulgation after the Trump administration paused White House review of the measure. Environmental Defense Alliance (EDA), a Birmingham, AL, group, and Waterkeepers Florida filed an Aug. 19 complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, seeking to compel...

Montana Group Threatens Suit Over EPA Failure To Revise State’s WQS

A Montana environmental group is threatening to sue EPA over its failure to approve or disapprove the state’s revised water quality standards (WQS) for nutrients within Clean Water Act (CWA) deadlines, though the group charges that the standards are unlawful and the agency should disapprove it. The Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, a group based in Bozeman, MT, sent EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin an Aug. 7 notice of intent to sue (NOI) over what it charges is the agency’s failure to comply...

EPA Draws Fire For Dropping Biden-Era Listing For Nitrate-Impaired Waters

Environmentalists are criticizing the Trump EPA for rescinding Biden administration plans that would have listed waters in Iowa as impaired for nitrate and nitrite contamination, suggesting it undercuts their calls for the agency to clamp down on the releases from agricultural sources. “Iowa’s water crisis should be a call to action. Instead, Trump’s EPA is callously turning its back,” Food & Water Watch (F&WW) Legal Director Tarah Heinzen said in an Aug. 12 statement. “The data is clearer than ever...

Dischargers Cite TSCA 1,4-DX Re-Evaluation In Defense Against Water Suit

The city of Asheboro, NC, and a nearby plastics manufacturer are pointing to the Trump EPA’s reconsideration of a TSCA risk assessment for 1,4-dioxane (1,4-DX) in their defense of a Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen suit alleging they unlawfully discharged the chemical -- though environmentalists say EPA’s action is irrelevant. The defendants in Cape Fear River Watch and Haw River Assembly v. City of Asheboro, et al. , pending in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North...

ELG Ruling Could Delay Revisions Amid EPA Cuts, Former Official Says

A former EPA official says that the recent 9th Circuit ruling finding the agency unlawfully failed to revise effluent limits for seven industrial categories will require review of additional data in biennial program plans, a move that requires additional time and resources and could face additional delays due to Trump administration budget cuts. Betsy Southerland, who led EPA’s office that oversees the effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) program, told Inside EPA in an interview that if the ruling stands, “EPA...

EPA Looks Beyond Biden-Era ELG, CCR Rules For Potential Revisions

EPA is looking beyond Biden-era rules governing coal-fired power plants’ effluent limitations and coal combustion residual (CCR) disposal at legacy sites for potential revision, signaling in recent legal filings as well as regulatory docket entries that it may revisit aspects of previous Trump and Obama-era rulemakings. EPA is currently in the midst of taking actions to extend compliance deadlines associated with the Biden administration’s 2024 rules strengthening effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for the steam electric generating category and setting requirements...

Draft MAHA Plan Sidesteps PFAS Advice, Seeks To Ease Pesticide Policy

A draft strategy from the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission appears to sidestep calls for addressing PFAS while proposing to ease EPA policies governing pesticides and farm operations, a move that is sparking criticism from environmentalists who say it marks a turnabout from the panel’s initial report. The draft strategy , required by President Donald Trump’s executive order creating the panel, follows a May MAHA assessment that identified four potential drivers behind an increase in childhood chronic...

Facing EPA Attack, Plaintiffs Defend Standing In TSCA Fluoride Appeal

Environmentalist plaintiffs seeking to force EPA to regulate drinking water fluoridation under TSCA are defending their standing to bring suit on the issue, urging a federal appeals court to reject EPA’s effort to discredit a key plaintiff’s standing by arguing the effort comes too late and involves statements subject to reasonable dispute. “There are no unusual or extraordinary circumstances to justify taking judicial notice of facts that EPA could have, but did not present to the district court,” Food and...

EPA Unveils Cybersecurity Advice, First-Time Grants For Water Systems

EPA is providing recommendations for drinking water and wastewater systems to bolster their defenses against increasing cyberattack threats while also announcing $9 million in first-time grants to assist systems with cybersecurity and resilience against “extreme weather events.” The July report includes recommendations for both small and large water systems, noting that cyberattacks “pose significant risks” to systems “including the potential to disrupt operations, compromise water quality, and cause substantial economic losses.” Many utilities’ IT systems and operational technology (OT), which...

MAHA Backers Warn Of Fallout For GOP Over PFAS Biosolids Measure

Supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement are pressing President Donald Trump to oppose a measure included in FY26 House spending legislation that would bar EPA from acting on a Biden-era draft risk assessment of two legacy PFAS in biosolids. In an Aug. 11 letter to the president, as well as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, they warn of potential political repercussions for Republicans in the...

California Court Bars WRCB From Using TST In Permits But Impact Unclear

A California state appellate court has blocked the Water Resources Control Board (WRCB) from using an EPA toxicity test when crafting discharge permits, a significant victory for dischargers who have long sought to block use of the test, though experts are downplaying the practical effect of the ruling. A three-judge panel of California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled Aug. 5 in Camarillo Sanitation District, et al. v. WRCB that regulators cannot use EPA’s test of significant toxicity (TST)...

Environmentalists Press MAHA Panel To Stem Range Of PFAS Exposures

Environmentalists are petitioning the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission to take action to restrict PFAS exposure from biosolid applications, fluorination in plastic containers and pesticides use, contending the administration’s talk about addressing PFAS does not match its actions to date. The purpose of the petition -- sent Aug. 13 to MAHA Commission Chair and Health & Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. -- is to point out the hypocrisy of administration officials on the per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

Environmentalists Threaten Suit Over ESA Violations In Biden-Era 404 Rule

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is threatening to sue EPA over alleged Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations in connection with the Biden-era rule allowing states and authorized tribes to assume and administer Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 permitting programs, citing a failure to consult with federal wildlife agencies. CBD sent EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin a July 30 notice of intent to sue (NOI), saying that in revising the 404 assumption rule “EPA has violated the ESA by failing...

EPA Floats Power Plant ELG Deadline Extension As Officials Weigh Rollbacks

The Trump EPA is floating for interagency review a draft plan delaying compliance with zero-discharge requirements in a Biden-era rule governing effluent limitations for power plants, though officials are asking a federal appellate court to delay litigation over the regulation as they weigh more substantive revisions. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), EPA Aug. 11 submitted for interagency review its proposed rule extending zero-discharge compliance deadlines. The agency floated the proposal on the same day it filed...

Chemours Appeals Order Requiring Immediate PFAS Discharge Reductions

PFAS manufacturer Chemours is appealing a federal court’s order requiring the company to immediately reduce its discharges of a next-generation PFAS to comply with its wastewater discharge permit, after the judge reinforced the court’s authority to grant preliminary injunctive relief to citizens seeking to enforce the Clean Water Act (CWA). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit Aug. 12 docketed Chemours’ petition seeking review of Judge Joseph Goodwin’s Aug. 7 order in West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WVRC) v....

Amidst LCRI Defense, EPA Plans To Provide ‘Flexibilities’ For Water Utilities

EPA is planning to defend the Biden-era rule requiring near-total replacement of lead service lines by 2037 against a utility group suing to block the regulation, but will work to provide “practical implementation flexibilities and regulatory clarity” to assist water systems with compliance. The Justice Department (DOJ) “is now moving forward with the process of defending the rule,” EPA told Inside EPA on Aug. 7, after the agency signaled it was ready to move forward with the litigation, which...

States Ready Supreme Court Petition To Review PFAS Venue Decision

South Carolina and Maryland are planning to ask the Supreme Court to review the appellate ruling that backed 3M’s bid to remove their PFAS contamination suits to federal court, opening the door to a legal reckoning over whether defendants will be able to keep such suits in federal court where they can raise the government contractor defense. As such, if Maryland and South Carolina succeed, it could allow several other states to keep their similar claims against 3M and other...

D.C. Circuit Sets Sept. 10 Deadline To File Motions In PFAS SDWA Case

The D.C. Circuit is requiring EPA and other parties in litigation challenging the Biden-era PFAS drinking water limits to file motions to govern future proceedings by Sept. 10, actions that will likely clarify how the Trump EPA will proceed with its proposed changes to the landmark PFAS regulation. According to an Aug. 7 order in the consolidated American Water Works Association, et al. v. EPA , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit orders “that the parties file...

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